Hard to get: Recent college grads may have a tough time finding a J-O-B

Graduating and hitting the real world with mountains of debt and no job.

Recent college graduates are getting discouraged and having to move back home with mom and dad while they calculate what's next.

Today's college grads are very aware of the economy, and the challenge of landing their first meaningful job.

Coming off the worst recession in decades, it won't be easy for college graduates to cash in on their degrees.

According to a study by Rutgers University, nearly half will be working jobs that don't even require a degree.

And more bad news, starting salaries are down. For those who graduated between 2006 and 2008, the median salary was $30,000 dollars but for more recent college grads, it's dipped to $27,000.

"Right now, I'm just kind of hanging out," said Kate Helfrich.

Kate Helfrich graduated from Case Western Reserve less than a week ago, and she's already feeling pressure.

"I'm definitely feeling a little anxiety regarding the loan repayment. You hear about programs that offer loan repayment and sign on bonuses, I don't feel like we've seen that as much since the recession hit," said Kate Helfrich.

Hillary Wheelock is a junior at Case.

"I've got a lot of friends who are engineers and nurses and they are very excited," said Hillary Wheelock. "And they think it's not going to be as difficult as one would think."

It's just poor timing that these students are coming out and will be looking for jobs at the end of a nasty recession, but none of the students we talked to seem to be really concerned about it.

"I don't get to down about it. Other might and say yeah, shoot, poor timing to be in school right now, but it's not that much of an issue," said college junior Danny Frastaci.

19 Action News Anchor Paul Joncich spoke with several students who've been hearing that there are opportunities out there and that companies are hiring so maybe things are turning around.

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